NBA analyst Charles Barkley unleashes on star player for sitting out start of season

Charles Barkley has had it with Joel Embiid and the 76ers star sitting out for the first three games of the NBA season for the sake of load management. 

The NBA-legend-turned analyst gave his thoughts on one of the best players in the league announcing ahead of time that he will sit out for the first three games of the season to rest his body. 

Embiid has had injury issues throughout his NBA career, never playing more than 68 games in his career. 

Last year, the Team USA Olympian dealt with knee, ankle, and hip injuries. Embiid only played in 39 regular-season games. That didn’t stop him from being a huge part of the Americans’ gold-medal win in Paris. 

Barkley cannot understand how Embiid’s decision helps his team or the NBA. 

The 76ers have cited load management for the reason Embiid will not play until October 30

‘Man, I don’t have any idea what the Sixers are doing. I don’t think it’s fair,’ Barkley said. ‘(Embiid) just signed for three years, $193 million. Three years, $193 million to play basketball. We’re not steelworkers, we’re not nurses.’

‘Like people who’ve got real jobs who have to work 40-50 hours a week. We’re playing basketball at the most four days a week. Most of the time three days a week. He has the best backup in the league in (Andre) Drummond.’

“If they had to say it, and Kenny (Smith) and (Shaquille O’Neal) know this, just say “Hey I’m going to play 25 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back.” Or then Drummond plays. But to come out and say it in advance was stupidity by the Sixers. Period.’

Due to the 76ers reasoning, the NBA has launched an investigation into the team for its reasoning. 

Embiid missed preseason games for injury management, with the 7-foot center playing for Team USA months earlier. 

The NBA does have some guardrails in place to prevent players from sitting out and earning the same paychecks, like making a game-minimum to be eligible for postseason awards, such as MVP.